


a story of hope

by perfectlyrose



Series: 31 Days of Ficmas [1]
Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Dimension-Hopping Rose, F/M, Time War!Eight, finding hope in familiar strangers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-02
Updated: 2017-12-02
Packaged: 2019-02-09 10:58:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12886419
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/perfectlyrose/pseuds/perfectlyrose
Summary: The Doctor meets a stranger fighting her own battles in the middle of a crowded market. They find a bit of hope in each other.





	a story of hope

**Author's Note:**

> For the Day 1 prompt of "hope" for 31 Days of Ficmas

“Are you alright?”

The Doctor jerked his head up to see who was talking to him. He’d come to this crowded market to lose himself in the anonymity of a crowd, not to talk to inquisitive strangers. His gaze landed on the blonde woman in a bright blue leather jacket who was looking at him with concern written on her face.

“Perfectly alright, thank you,” he said, looking back down. He knew he looked a mess. His jacket was tattered and singed but he hadn’t found the motivation to trade the velvet for something more practical yet, wanting to hold on to something of the person he’d been before he’d been drawn into the war. He assumed his hair, tangled and shorter than it had been, was also a sight to be seen.

“You don’t look alright, mate. You’re… smoking. Just slightly.” The blonde gestured at his right shoulder.

The Doctor looked over and patted the offending piece of material until it stopped smoking. “Thank you.”

“You sure you’re okay? Seem like you’re having a rough go of it.” The woman’s expression was empathetic and the Doctor looked closer. He could read the exhaustion on her face and the battles fought in the set of her shoulders. This was a kindred spirit if he’d ever encountered one.

“Are you okay?” He shot back.

She shrugged. “Not really but I have to keep going anyways.”

He nodded, feeling the same way. “Would you like to sit for a while? I could use some good company for a change.”

“You don’t know that I’m good company.”

“I have a good feeling.”

She laughed and he felt a smile tug at the corner of his lips for the first time in what felt like ages. She checked a device on her wrist and then sat down on the bench next to him. “Better than a bad feeling, I guess.”

“Infinitely better,” he agreed. 

“So, wanna talk about what’s got you all disheveled or are you avoiding it?”

“Definitely avoiding.”

“Alright, then. Definitely understand that.”

“I oddly feel that you do actually understand,” he said, turning to get a better look at her. She appeared to be human but he wasn’t sure about her time period. London accent, a wide mouth made for smiling and clear brown eyes that seemed to see straight to the heart of him. She wasn’t half unnerving and he was  _ fascinated _ .

“Yeah.” She broke eye contact, gazing off into the crowd around them without seeing a single person.

“So, if we’re not going to talk about what we’re doing here, what do we talk about? I’m counting on you to be good company, remember?”

She laughed again. “Well, what do you know about the stars?”

“Everything,” he replied quickly.

“Bit full of yourself, aren’t you?” she answered, amusement clear.

“Just telling the truth.”

“Tell me a story about a constellation, then. Distract us both from our troubles for a bit,” she said.

“What kind of story?”

“Something about hope.”

“Not as many of those,” he mused, turning over the myths in his head until he found one native to this planet that fit the bill.

He started telling the story in a low voice, pretending not to notice when his companion scooted closer to hear him better.

The Doctor told a tale of a girl who came from the stars and helped a village settle their dispute that was tearing them apart and endangering everyone. She stayed and she helped and she waited until all was well before bidding the villagers, her friends, farewell and going back to the sky to watch over them for millennia, promising to come back whenever they needed her.

“That’s lovely,” she said with a sigh.

“It is rather. Maybe she’ll come help one of us.”

“Maybe she will.”

Something beeped and the blonde looked down with a grimace. “That’s my cue. Back to reality, I suppose.”

“If you must.”

“Universe depends on it.”

He couldn’t quite tell if she was being flippant or not.

“Better not risk it then. Thank you for the company,” he said, offering her another smile.

She reached over and cupped his cheek. “Thank you for the story and the hope.”

She leaned in and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his cheek and then stood. She walked away without looking back and the Doctor didn’t try to stop her.

He pressed his fingers to where her lips had been and thought that maybe she had been the girl from the stars sent to help him. He hoped that she found whatever she was searching for, won whatever battle she was fighting. At the very least, she had helped kindle hope in him where it had been extinguished and that was a miracle in its own right.

 


End file.
